Wednesday, August 3, 2011

July Reading Roundup

I ask you, where did the month of July go? One day I'm in Seattle, enjoying the cool mountain air; then I'm in Savannah dying from heat stroke. Not really, but it felt that way. This past Sunday the heat index made the temperature feel like 127 degrees, and there we were, walking along the riverfront like idiots. Needless to say, after we finished shopping, we beelined it back to the hotel, which was luckily in the middle of Savannah's historic district, only about a half mile away from the river. Anyway, July sort of flew by without me noticing it.

Once again, the bulk of my reading focus was on crime fiction, trying to finish up the books that were on the CWA International Dagger shortlist. This year's winner, by the way, was the team of Anders Roslund and Borge Hellstrom, for their Three Seconds, which was not so much a mystery novel, but rather a suspense/thriller sort of thing; it's still worth reading just for the knots it produced in my stomach. My plan to get some more of my literature tbr pile out of the way just sort of fell by the wayside in July since I was so busy absorbing the best of international crime fiction.

Here's the shakedown:

translated fiction:not counting the crime fiction (which is separately listed), I read absolutely zero translated fiction this month. A first.general fiction:On the Road, by Jack KerouacAll the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy (read, not reviewed for lack of time)

.....totaling 15 books for July. Easy to do...I had a lot of long lazy vacation days with books at my side.

other book-related stuff:1) my book group is on hiatus until the end of September; however, I did participate in the Bookbrowse.com discussion of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.2) Added to the Amazon wishlist this month:

Solace, by Belinda McKeonTo Each His Own, by Leonard Sciascia

3) Books bought this month:Rules of Civility, by Amor TowlesHalf Blood Blues, by Esi Edugyan The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick DeWittA Cupboard Full of Coats, by Yvvette EdwardsFar to Go, by Alison PickThe American Girl, by Monika FagerholmThe Treatment and the Cure, by Peter Kocan 4) several ARCs through the door, with more on the way (eek!) and

5) I found another freecycler who is putting together a library for the condo development she lives in, and she is gladly taking several boxes of books from my garage. My husband is eternally grateful.

so that's it for July. If anyone's interested, over at the other blog, The Crime Segments, I'm currently finishing Misterioso, a Swedish crime fiction novel by Arne Dahl, and starting a month of books mentioned in Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano novels.

About Me

bottom line: I love to read.
I use this space to record and to talk about what I've read during the year. You won't see descriptions like "lush, lyrical prose" here ... I'm just an ordinary reader person who wants to share a love of the written word. I don't really "review" -- that's for the pros. I just offer opinions. Feel free to comment any time.